There is no shame in being the best of the rest.
That was the case for the Otago men’s team at the weekend as they again had to play second fiddle to powerhouses Canterbury at the annual Jefferies Cup tournament in Christchurch.
The Whatukura beat South Canterbury 4-3, Marlborough 3-0 and Southland 15-4 in pool play.
But they had no answer to Canterbury on the opening day of the tournament, losing 11-0, and were beaten 9-1 by the Red Sox in five innings in the final.
It ensured there was no repeat of the fairy-tale 2021 tournament when Otago regained the Jefferies Cup for the first time in 28 years.
Player-coach Mitchell Finnie was pleased with the efforts of several Whatukura players at the tournament.
James Mathieson hit consistently with the bat and belted a couple of home runs, Cam Watts pitched superbly in the tight win over South Canterbury, and the whole team delivered hits at key moments in the impressive win over Southland.
While the final scoreline appeared one-sided, Otago had their moments.
They had three safe hits, one a centrefield blast from Matt Watts in the first inning and the other two infield singles from Mathieson and Finnie.
Finnie pitched four innings in the final for eight hits.
Canterbury only took control of the final in the fourth inning when former Black Sox outfielder Jackson Watt, named top batter of the tournament, crushed a three-run homer.
New Zealand under-23 representative Leon Lumb hit a solo homer in the second inning.
Josh Kelly, who was in Canberra last week with the Black Sox, tossed a three-hitter for Canterbury and was named pitcher of the tournament.
The Otago highlight of the round robin loss to Canterbury was provided by Finnie, playing in right field, who made a super play to throw out fleet-footed baserunner Callum Bishop at first base.
Otago finished second in the under-17 girls tournament, and third in the under-17 boys.
